I've gone to Barnes & Noble 2 - 3 times a week for 10 - 15 years. I sit in the cafe with my cafe mocha and do some work, then browse books for a while. I never

I've gone to Barnes & Noble 2 - 3 times a week for 10 - 15 years. I sit in the cafe with my cafe mocha and do some work, then browse books for a while. I never get tired of it. I read about their financial problems through the 20-teens and was sadly expecting that they'd go under. When James Daunt was named CEO, the changes were immediate. The spacer boxes appeared on the shelves; as someone else mentioned, they allow books to be placed cover forward, which is better for visual appeal. The front cover is what book designers design for. It also reduces the number of books on the shelves, which helps keep inventory lean. They rearranged the shelves on the store floor so you had fewer rows of parallel shelves like an old-school library. In my store, shelves were arranged to create a little enclaves for mystery and detective fiction and for hardback fiction. The store layout is more varied and interesting. On several occasions, I've seen guys who were, from their conversations, some kind of "store layout consultants" talking to the managers and discussing moving stuff around and changing displays. The folks who worked at the store were very encouraged. Many had been through the big layoff in 2018 (when a lot of full-timers were abruptly let go - see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16389342 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16389342). They liked the new changes - it was clear that the company was finally being run by someone who understood books. (I read somewhere - can't find the link - that Daunt even thinks about the angle of the shelves, because he thinks a certain angle is best for visibility.) The company seemed to be more realistic about what wasn't working. Most significantly, the Nook section near the door disappeared. Other smaller things that weren't selling (like Lamy fountain pens) also disappeared. Inventory in general is more controlled: They started turning over the magazines much faster, to the point where if I was interested in a magazine I found I couldn't wait too long. The technical book section isn't what it used to be, but they do carry a lot of No Starch books. I'm not a programmer, but I have a few No Starch books and e-books. I like the publisher (and given the problems with their books being counterfeited on Amazon, I'd rather buy a paper version in store if I want one). Some stuff they've done in my store doesn't make sense to me - for instance, separating fiction into hardback and paperback. The classics section has been partially separated by publisher. I don't think that's how people look for books: They ask for "Crime and Punishment", not the paperback edition of "Crime and Punishment", or the Penguin edition. People want to see all the editions of "Crime and Punishment" together so they can compare and choose. Right or wrong, at least these are changes which reflect someone thinking about books. The pandemic closure was a setback, and a lot of people who used to work at my store didn't return to work. But the store has come back pretty well. There's nothing else like Barnes & Noble, so I hope these changes work out.